Keyholder



April 1935- I E. R. F. JOHNSON 1,996,705

KEYHbLDER Filed May 26, 1933 Patented Apr. 2, 1935 V UN TED; i,s; A;T

a KEYHOLDER v Eldridge R. Fenimore Johnson, M oorestowni N. H assignorto Mechanicallmprovements corpus" ration, Camden, N. 'J., a corporationof lfIewf Jersey Application Mayne, 1933, Serial Nd. 673L075 1-.)

1 Claim.) 01. 15 -40;

'This' invention relates to a key holdryand more'particularly to a; keyholder provided with a wrapper in which the keys may be normallyenclosed; a

In order to prevent chafing of the pocket or other receptaclein which agroup of keys iscarried, a wrapper is desirable therefor, and it isfurthermore desirable that such'wrapper benot onlyreadily opened andclosed but also that it not interfere with ready and convenient manipulation and separation of the keys when the wrapper is opened up.

Letters Patent No. 1,898,202 of Henry -H. Murray, granted February 21,1933, for ;Key holders, disclosea simple and compact holder for keyswhich enables them to be assembled in flatwise engagement and alignment,and individually rotated: into and out o'f thev group for use, thisconstruction having asanimportant advantage that the keys are readilyseparable and manipulated bythe use of one hand. Experience hasdemonstrated that if a flexible wrapper large enough to -envelop thekeys be attached to one end of such a key holder, at a pointapproximately midway-of oneside of the wrapper',-so

that the wrapper may be folded about the grouped keys and retained inposition as by a snap;" a

simple andinexpensivecontainer forthegrouped keys is 'provided' 'which'produces a compact package and at the same time eliminates chafing ofthe pocket or other receptacle in which it is carried. V F31 "Experiencehas further 'demonstrated," however, that a wrapper of theaforesaidcharacter tends to wrinkle and bunchup, and interfere with theseparation and use of the keys, unless two hands are used andcareexercised in separating the keys, so that an important advantage of thetype of key holder disclosed in said 'Murray patent, i. e. the capacityfor'ready and convenient separation and manipulation of the keys by onehand, is largely lost; Not only does the wrapper V V V [the aforesaidpatent of Murray,No. 1,898,202;

thus tend to get in theway of the keys, butthe separation from the groupof the key which is adjacent the wrapper tends to exert a strain on theleather which tends to tear the wrapper away from the holder. r a It isan object of this'invention to provide a construction of key holderand-wrapper which largely avoids the difliculties heretofore experiencedwith the wrapper wrinkling and otherwise bunching up so as to interferewith the ready separation and manipulation of thekeys.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device of the typecharacterized which mini .mounted ones-aid shank -II; and a spring lockmizes the interference of the wrapper with onehand operation of thegroup of keys. 'Another object of this; invention is to provide a deviceof the type characterized which renders the inmost key asreadilyseparable from the group asother keystherein; and withoutthrowing anyundue strains upon the-material of thezwrapper" or tending to tear thewrapper from the group-of keys/ w T Another object of this invention isto provide 10 a deviceof the type'characterized'which, while possessingthefforegoing advantages, is also simplein construction, inexpensive tomanufacture and easy to manipulate.

Other objects will appear as" the description. of 51 I the inventionproceeds. 7V Y The invention is capable of receiving a variety ofmechanical expressions; one of which is-shown onthe'accompanyingdra'wing, but it is to be ex-' presslyunderstoodthat-the drawing is for the 20 purpose of" illustration only,and is not to be construed as a-d'efin ition of the limits of theinvention,-reference being had to the appended claim for-"that purpose.

- Referring in'detail to thedrawing wherein the 5 same referencecharacters are employed to designate corresponding parts in 'the severalfigures,

Fig, l is a perspective view of a keyholder and wrapperof I the presentinvention with the wrapper in its closedposition; 2 is'a similarviewshowing the opposite side of thepackage; Y a Fig, 3"is a perspectiveview of the wrapper opened up,the keys removed, and the partsof 1 thekey holder' properseparated for clearness of illustration; and i r Fig.4shows the relativeposition of theparts, with keys; infpo'sition, whenthe wrapper is open and a key is" beingmanipulated by the right hand; Inthe form shown the key holder'proper' may be'of any suitableconstruction, but is preferably of the general character shown*and'described in As "here illustrated it is composed of an inter--nally threaded -tubularshank II having an' ex- 5 terior surfacehexagonalin crosssection' and head l 4 and'transverse slot IS; a tubular-'clamp-'- ing member I61 having- 2, head l1 and slidably" 50 member l8disposed between the heads l4 and I1. As the details of construction ofsaid keyholder. constitute no part of the present invention, a furtherdescription of the construction and operation thereof isdeemed'unneoessa y,i but ref-,

holder, as. of the construction above referred to, is provided with agenerally trapezoidal wrapper of any suitable material, prefera V Saidwrapper ZO mayHhave the:

configuration ,illustratedon the drawingrin Fig.

ably leather.

3, but is of such size and shape that it'may be folded or wrapped abouta group of keys equal 7 1 "around the keys, whereby a compact and relatothe maximum number of keys that the holder is'adaptedto retain and,form a complete enclosure therefor, as shown in Fig. '1. Any suitablemeans may be provided forretaining the wrap per in its closed position,such 'as a snap, the two 7 parts 2! and 22 of which are shown. assuitably attachedto the .flap portions 23am 24 of said wrapper.

is'preferably formedpf metal or some material having arelativelysmoothsurfacefora purpose to be ,explainedyand, is-ofgenerally strip-like.

lengththereof and adjacentthe ends thereof, so 7 thatthe wrapper is,held taut and in fiat, surface contact with the member,25. As here shownthe shank ll of thekey holder passes .through a suitably shaped opening'26 adjacent one end of the member 25and the wrapper, 2B is clampedbetween the head l2 andg'said member, but the shank llmaybe,madejntegral withthe memher 25, sothat said member is ineffect anextension ofthe shank. l l, or the;headj l 2 may be disposedbetween themember '25; and the wrapper, thereby providing. more rroom;on-,the shankfor V the keys. 5 An eyelet orothersuitablesecuring means ZLEattachesithe wrappergto the member 25, adjacent the. .pppcosite jextremityof thelatter and also,-preferably, iatfat least: one intermediate 7 point, andif,'as preferred, thehead [2 doesnot extend to. the, exterior of thewrapper, a "similar eyelet or other securing. means attaches the wrapperto the membere25 adjacent the shankl I Said member 25 holds the,wrappergtaut and flat along its medial portion,,an d therefore-thematerial of thewrapper cannot wrinkle or bunch up when a key isto be.rotated with respectto the group of keysto move it, into positionforuse.

Moreover, :the two ends 'of the wrapper become mere flaps by reasonof=the medial member 25, and; as jtheyi: are; of flexible material theyare easily deflected out .of g thepath-*of-a key as it is rotated, hence1 interposing a minimum inter-,-

'ference to onehand operation-ofthe'keys Addi- .tionallyyas the. member25 isof,a. material1having. a smooth face, the 'key adjacent thereto maybe readily rotated into and out of the group with-- out the frictionalopposition-to relative movement-thatwould exist if theleather itselfwere in contact withthe :key,: and to further facilitate relativerotation the .members'25: may have a the disclosure of said MurrayDisposed "approximately midway =of said wrapperjis a stiffening member25 which may be of any suitable shape. and material, but

slightly raised boss as shown at 28 in Fig. 3. The interposition of themember 25 prevents the transference of stress to the wrapper when a keyis moved with respect to the group, and therefore the rotation of thekeys into. and out of position is 'not productive of a tendency to tearor twist the wrapper away from its attachment.

-When the wrapped group of keys is taken from the pocket, the parts arein the relative position shown in Fig. l with the snap holding thewrapper tively regular and smooth package is afforded. With the thumb ofthe hand that is holding the article the snap canbe readily releasedexposing the. group of keys,and by manipulating the keys with thethumbofthe hand they may be rotated relatively to the member 25 so as toselect and further rotate'thefkey to be used into the relative positionshown in Fig. 4, all by the manipulation of one' hand. During thismanipulation there is little tendency for the wrapper to get inthe Wayof the keys, and as thewrapper is in effect sub.- dividedintotwoflexible flaps by the member 25 the manipulation of the keys easilydeflects the flaps] out of the way, andtherefore there is a minimuminterference with the selection and operation of the keys., j i r r Itwilltherefore beperceived that thepresent invention provides akey-holder witha wrapper forthe keys whichavoids all difficulties withthe wrapper wrinkling and bunching up and interfering with themanipulation of the keys; which makes the innermost key as readilymovable with respect to the group as. the remaining keys; whicheliminates the tendency to tear or twist the Wrapper from the 'keyholder; and which is strong and durable while atthesame time simple andment of. the inventionillustrated on the drawing hasbeen described withconsiderable particularity, it is to be expressly" understood that theinvention is not restricted thereto, as the same is capable of receivingother expressions as willnow be apparent to those skilled in the art,while changes may bemade in the details of construction, material,size,-arrangement, and proportion of parts without departing from thespirit of this invention. Reference is therefore to be had to theappended claim ,for a definition of said invention.

Whatis claimedisr 1 In a key holder, a flexible, wrapper, a stiffeningmember substantially traversing said wrapper .andattached theretoadjacent. its opposite ends tO-hOldjSEid wrapper taut dividing-saidwrapper into substantially equal parts; said stiffening membercomprisinga key-shaped metallic stamping of; smooth surface with anon-circular aperture recessed its outer and larger end to receiye a keyholding means and to prevent rotation of said key holding means, saidkey holding means extending at right anglestos'aid stiffening member'and retaining the ,keys in a generally alined group :and allowingrotation of saidkeys outlof said'ggenerally alined group and. parallelto said stiffening member, and means locking the keys onsaid keyholdingmeans and allowing the addition or removal of keys. q

VELDVRIYDGE RI'ENIMORE JOHNSON.

inexpensive to manufactureg While the embodi-

